IMAM OUSMAN SAWANEH CLOCKS 100 DAYS IN DETENTION

The Imam of Kanifing South Mosque clocks 100 days today in incommunicado detention at the remote Janjangbureh prison in the Central River Region (CRR).

According to one of his sons, the family has not been allowed access by the prison wardens to their father who is languishing in this provincial jail without release or charge.

“We need to know why our father is still not released or the reason why he is being held in detention this long without access to his family,” said the distraught looking young man.

He said the long detention of their loved one is very stressful and agonising to the family as he was the soul pillar.

The son of the detained Imam repeated the call being made by the family for the authorities to release their father for him to reunite with them.

Imam Sawaneh was reported to have been picked up by men in civilian clothes around 10am while he was leading a team of volunteers to clear the grass in the Kanifing Cemetery. He was whisked him away to an unknown destination but later traced by the family at the NIA detention centre in Banjul. He was said to have spent 17 days at NIA before being finally transferred to this remote prison outpost.

The arrest and subsequent detention of Imam Sawaneh was received as a surprise by his neighbours at Kanifing South who described him as a good man. They wondered why he is being held incommunicado and not released or charged.